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One-Zero Limerick Conference a big hit with sports industry figures One-Zero Limerick Conference a big hit with sports industry figures

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PHOTOS One-Zero Limerick Conference a big hit with sports industry figures

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One-Zero Limerick Conference a big hit with sports industry figures. The inaugural One Zero Limerick Conference event, where sports, business and technology collide, took place on March 31, 2023 at The Engine Collaboration Centre, Limerick. Picture: Olena Oleksienko/ilovelimerick

Leading figures from the global sports industry arrived in Limerick for the One-Zero Conference event at Engine to “show the best in sports technology”

One-Zero Limerick Conference a big hit with sports industry figures
The inaugural One Zero Limerick event, where sports, business and technology collide, took place on March 31, 2023 at The Engine Collaboration Centre, Limerick. Picture: Olena Oleksienko/ilovelimerick

Three-time Super Bowl Champion Lonie Paxton was amongst the leading figures from the global sports industry in Limerick on March 31 for the One-Zero Conference at Engine, Limerick.  

The unique event saw sports industry professionals converge at Engine to learn, network and help shape the future of sport.  Lonie Paxton was joined by international speakers and panellists like Thomas Ryan, VP Basketball Strategy, NBA, retired NBA player Maurice Evans and Tracy Deforge, CEO, The Players’ Impact and more.  They delivered world-class insights on the accelerators in SportsTech and the opportunities for investors and were joined by local experts including Grainne Barry, STATS Perform.

Trevor Keane of One Zero said, “One Zero Limerick is designed to show the best in sports technology, and to show what the opportunity is for Ireland, and Limerick on an international stage for startups in the sport system.”


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The one-day Limerick gathering was a supplementary event to the One-Zero Conference which took place at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin the previous day (30th March) and brought a host of sports stars to the city as well has holding a pitch competitions as well as including a temporary basketball court demonstrating the future of technology in sport.

Speaking to I Love Limerick, Karen Ronan of Shannon Conference and Sports Bureau said, “Hopefully this is a start to a great partnership between Limerick City and County Council, Fáilte Ireland, ourselves in Shannon Conference and Sports Bureau, and the team in One-Zero who we are so grateful that they saw the ability to bring this fringe event to Limerick.”

Former NBA basketball player, Chris Owens spoke to Richard Lynch of I Love Limerick about the impact technology can have on sports, saying, “I think it’s going to push it to be even better, but I think the biggest thing is, it’s going to protect the players, help them out with being able to be more efficient with their bodies. But also give the fans more connection with the players, and I think that’s really what it’s about.”

Superbowl winner Lonie Paxton told I Love Limerick, “I’m here as part of the Players Impact, a community of current/former athletes really involved in the investments and early-stage deal flow, and One Zero asked us to be part of the event, sit on some panels, but also come and network, meet some of the local businesses and technologies we might be able to implement into America.”

One-Zero Limerick Conference a big hit with sports industry figures
Former NBA Basketball player Chris Owens with Limerick Celtics players. Picture: Olena Oleksienko/ilovelimerick

A member of the New England Patriots ‘Dynasty team’, Paxton told I Love Limerick’s Richard Lynch, “sports are sports for a reason”, saying it is still important to be “played by real people, and have real fans watch it, have thing happen in the moment”.

“So you can do all the analysis, and paralysis by consuming all this stuff, but at the end of the day it’s just that feeling, it’s that moment in time when a good player, bad player, a team wins or loses, that brings that emotion out,” Paxton told I Love Limerick

The Limerick-based company, STATS Perform were also at the event, Gráinne Barry, STATS Perform CEO said, “STATS Perform are a world leader in AI and sport. So we’re a sports data and technology company, head coordinated in Chicago in the US. Here in Limerick we have our Rugby Centre of Excellence, so all the rugby data from around the world is collected in Limerick.” With a 200-strong staff based in Henry Street, the STATS Perform CEO explained, “Everything from the Six Nations to the World Cup coming up it’s a fun place to work.”

The One-Zero conference explored the future of sport and technology, with the key topics on the 3-day agenda of the Dublin part of the event being Sponsorship, Media, iGaming and Fantasy, and Web 3.

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Pictures: Olena Oleksienko/ilovelimerick

Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.